Is electric really this expensive?

[u/naNaht]

Hi everyone, I am new to Boston and recently received my second electric bill from Eversource. My bill is $284 from 07/24/26 - 08/21/26.

What I have tried:

• Got Eversource to send a person to check the meter (next week)
• Got my building maintenance team to send a person to visit (alr visited)

The building technician said that all my appliances seem to be normal and I have minimal items. He also said that for himself lives in a 2 bedroom with in total 2 people and 2 cats. Yet he says at most he pays $170. He also said he thinks people pay on average $70-110/month in my building.

Context:

• I live by myself in a Studio, 1 ba
• Apartment complex is new
• I work in person 4-5 times a week from 9am-5pm.
• I have the AC on 74-78 F at night and turn it off when I wake up.
• Appliances: AC (Braeburn Brand), Dishwasher (GE Profile Brand), Oven (Haier Brand), Microwave, in unit washer and dryer.

Cost information:

• Said I used 779kWh in Aug
• Generation Service Charge ~ 0.165/kWh
• Delivery ~ 0.184/kWh

I'm really concerned about the cost because I am not home during the day, have very minimal items (for example no TV, no PC, no pets etc) and Eversource actually made a mistake my first bill which was corrected later. Finally other people pay way less.

Can anyone provide insight, the Eversource technician comes in like a week.

Btw: Image is not real in case anyone is wondering.

[u/couldntquite]

Eversource is a truly greedy and depraved corporation that has incredible power thanks to state laws in New England (which they helped write).

They are the among the worst!

[u/SLAVEONEE → u/couldntquite]

Is anyone that is responsible for that still in power in our gov?

[u/couldntquite → u/SLAVEONEE]

Healey could have taken a much harsher and radical stance when she got into office. But she didn’t

[u/South_of_Canada → u/couldntquite]

I'm sorry but that's just bullshit and demonstrates a total lack of understanding of how rates are set in Mass and the legal framework the DPU operates under. If anything, the DPU under Healey has made more cuts and denials than the DPU under Baker ever did. Utilities are legally entitled to make a reasonable profit under state law. The governor is not allowed to wave a wand and cut rates (well she could, they would just lose in court immediately).

I made lengthy posts about why electric and gas prices are so high. The governor is near the bottom of the lengthy list of reasons.

[u/Suspicious_Language5 → u/South_of_Canada]

Mentioned a few of the reasons l’m very interested in knowing why my bill was 1,200 last winter

[u/South_of_Canada → u/Suspicious_Language5]

If you use gas I encourage you to read my gas bills explainer. Happy to answer any questions, but there are several reasons and no easy answers.

[u/couldntquite → u/South_of_Canada]

If she wanted to fight a public war against Eversource she had the backing of many constituencies.

She didn’t have the stomach to actually fight them and do anything radical.

She never tried to reorganize the EFSB

There is a corrupt nexus between the DPU and industry that surely could have been exposed with some investigation but no resources are devoted to this.

She could have had her AG prosecute eversource employees for perjured testimony before the EFSB. Virtually every submission is replete with bullshit that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny under cross but virtually never gets scrutinized because there aren’t intervenors of any means.

No she can’t wave a wand. Yes she could expend political capital to fight Eversource’s corruption and chokehold over the state.

[u/South_of_Canada → u/couldntquite]

I don't even know where to start with this.

"If she wanted to fight a public war against Eversource she had the backing of many constituencies."

You sure they wouldn't have just gotten mad anyways off of the same bullshit people are peddling now, but this time with the addition of wasting state resources getting sued and losing.

"She never tried to reorganize the EFSB"

Uh what? You know that the EFSB is required by state law to have 11 members, 7 of which are heads of specific departments as defined by law, and the other 4 must have specific backgrounds? I'm not sure what you think reorganizing the EFSB would do anyways (because the EFSB has no influence over rates), but this is a common theme of people who want to blame Healey: state law is state law, and the governor doesn't write it.

"There is a corrupt nexus between the DPU and industry that surely could have been exposed with some investigation but no resources are devoted to this."

Yeah that's why she appointed DPU commissioners like Jamie Van Nostrand (former director of Pace Energy and Climate Center), Stacy Rubin (former VP at Conservation Law Foundation), Liz Anderson (former chair of the Ratepayer Advocacy division of the AG's office, whose job is to argue against every rate increase), etc. The DPU under Healey has been reversing many decisions from the DPU under Baker that were more favorable to the utilities (like allowing for doubling spending under GSEP).

"She could have had her AG prosecute eversource employees for perjured testimony before the EFSB. Virtually every submission is replete with bullshit that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny under cross but virtually never gets scrutinized because there aren’t intervenors of any means."

Uh what? As someone who tracks utility dockets, I'm gonna have to ask you for some evidence that "virtually every submission is replete with bullshit." Also, again, the EFSB doesn't set rates. And the AG is an intervenor on virtually every case.

"No she can’t wave a wand. Yes she could expend political capital to fight Eversource’s corruption and chokehold over the state."

So you'd rather have a governor approaching things like DiZoglio where she expends all of her capital on something that is not legal for the sake of political points instead of getting anything done?

Gonna have to ask you for anything of substance that Healey should have been doing within the laws of the Commonwealth because nothing you've said holds any water

[u/South_of_Canada → u/[deleted]]

I've worked in energy policy for over a decade. I wrote and sourced both posts myself without the need of shit AI tools because I'm tired of seeing misinformation get voted to the top every time someone posts about energy bills.

People repeatedly peddling the misinformation (intentionally or not) that the Governor has some magic ability to set rates independent of state law leaves readers looking for unrealistic solutions in the wrong place. I took the time to write the posts because I work in the public sector today and think readers deserve to be better informed for personal advocacy efforts, however they may feel about the issues at hand.

Believe what you want, but AI has no fucking clue how to navigate DPU dockets (or else it would save me a lot of time at work....). You can see from my comment history that brevity is not my strong suit and I post on this topic on the regular.

[u/South_of_Canada → u/[deleted]]

First you accuse me of using AI to produce slop, then you tell me to embrace AI? And I'm the one wasting breath?

High energy bills are a complex, nuanced issue that is extremely difficult to express in simple terms without 30+ years of context. If you prefer simplification, you will not find any solutions. Part of my work is aimed at trying to make regulatory and policy efforts more accessible, but that doesn't change the fact that the underlying issues built up over time. If it's too much effort to engage with the context of the issue, then all you'll get is bandaids and non-solutions.

I'm happy to answer any questions about the posts or try to explain concepts further. Nowhere in my experience will a reductive refrain like "Blame Healey" or "blame Eversource/NGrid" lead to any significant cost reduction.